Frank Langella
Frank A. Langella, Jr. (born January 1, 1938) is an American stage and film actor. He has won four Tony Awards, two for Best Leading Actor in a Play for his performance as Richard Nixon in the play Frost/Nixon and for his role as André in The Father and two for Best Featured Actor in a Play for the role of Leslie in Edward Albee's Seascape and for his role as Flegont Alexandrovitch Tropatchov in Ivan Turgenev's Fortune's Fool. Additionally, Langella has won two Obie Awards and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in the film production of Frost/Nixon (2008).12 Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Personal life 4 Awards 5 Filmography 6 See also 7 References 8 External links Early life Langella, an Italian American,3 was born in Bayonne, New Jersey,4 the son of Angelina and Frank A. Langella Sr., a business executive who was the president of the Bayonne Barrel and Drum Company.56 Langella attended Washington Elementary School and Bayonne High School in Bayonne.7 After the family moved to South Orange, New Jersey, he graduated from Columbia High School, in the South Orange-Maplewood School District, in 1955, and graduated from Syracuse University in 1959 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in drama.8 He remains a brother of the Alpha Chi Rho fraternity. Career Langella at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival Langella appeared off-Broadway (e. g. in The Immoralist at the Bouwerie Lane Theatre in 1963,9 and Robert Lowell's The Old Glory in 1965) before he made his first foray on a Broadway stage in New York in Federico García Lorca's Yerma at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, Lincoln Center, on December 8, 1966. He followed this role by appearing in William Gibson's A Cry of Players, playing a young, highly fictionalized William Shakespeare, opposite Anne Bancroft at the same venue in 1968, and won film fame in two 1970 films: Mel Brooks' The Twelve Chairs and Frank Perry's Diary of a Mad Housewife, being nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer for the latter. Langella won his first Tony Award for his performance in Edward Albee's Seascape and 1975 and was nominated again for what may have been the performance for which he was best known in the early part of his career: the title role of the 1977 Broadway production of Dracula. Despite his initial misgivings about continuing to play the role, he was persuaded to star opposite Laurence Olivier in the subsequent film version directed by John Badham. He eschewed the career of a traditional film star by always making the stage the focal point of his career, appearing on Broadway in such plays as Strindberg's The Father (winning a Drama Desk Award), Match (Tony Award nomination), and Fortune's Fool, for which he won a second Tony Award. But Langella would continue to juggle film and television with his stage work, playing Sherlock Holmes in a 1981 adaptation of William Gillette's play Sherlock Holmes. He repeated the role on Broadway in 1987 in Charles Marowitz's play Sherlock's Last Case. That same year, Langella would also portray the villain Skeletor in Masters of the Universe, which he has described as one of his favorite roles.10 In 1988, Langella co-starred in the film And God Created Woman. In 1993, he made a three-episode appearance on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as the devious Jaro Essa. He also appeared as Al Baker in "Dominance", a 2003 episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and had a recurring role as Pino in the 2005 short-lived sitcom Kitchen Confidential. On film, he played Clare Quilty in Adrian Lyne's adaptation of Lolita and appeared as a villainous pirate in the summer 1995 release Cutthroat Island. His film work also includes roles in George Clooney's Good Night, and Good Luck (2005) as former CBS chief executive William S. Paley and Bryan Singer's Superman Returns (2006) as Daily Planet editor Perry White. Langella received critical acclaim as well as the Boston Society of Film Critics Award in 2007 for his sensitive portrayal of an elderly novelist in Starting Out in the Evening. He was cast as Richard Nixon in Peter Morgan's Frost/Nixon, which received enthusiastic reviews during a run at the Donmar Warehouse and Gielgud Theatre in London before moving to New York's Bernard B. Jacobs Theater in April 2007, culminating in Langella's third Tony Award. He reprised the role of Nixon in the 2008 Oscar nominated Best Picture film Frost/Nixon, directed by Ron Howard. He received Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, and BAFTA nominations for Best Actor for his performance. He was also nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Actor category for the role, losing to Sean Penn's performance in Milk. In 2000, he played the role of Ebenezer Scrooge in a musical version of A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden.11 He has also appeared in notable off-Broadway productions, including in the title role of Robert Kalfin's Chelsea Theater Center production of The Prince of Homburg, which was filmed by PBS for the Theatre in America series.12 He starred as Sir Thomas More in the 2008 Broadway revival of A Man for All Seasons.13 In late 2009, he starred alongside Cameron Diaz and re-united with Superman Returns co-star James Marsden in the Richard Kelly film The Box.14 Langella starred in the drama thriller Unknown, which was directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, and was released in 2011.15 In October and November 2013, Langella played King Lear at the Minerva, Chichester Festival Theatre in Chichester, UK. It travelled to the Harvey Theater at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York in 2014. In 2016, he played the title role in Doug Hughes' production of the US premiere of Florian Zeller's play The Father at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on Broadway.16 Personal life Langella was married to Ruth Weil from June 14, 1977 to their divorce in 1996. They have two children. He also then lived with actress/comedian Whoopi Goldberg, whom he had met on the set of Eddie. From 1996 they were together but they separated in March 2001. Langella published a memoir in 2012 called Dropped Names: Famous Men and Women As I Knew Them.17 In a review in the New York Times Book Review, Ada Calhoun wrote that "Langella's book celebrated sluttiness as a worthy—even noble—way of life. There was so much happy sexuality in this book that reading it was like being flirted with for a whole party by the hottest person in the room. It was no wonder Langella was invited everywhere."18 Awards Langella's awards include two Obie Awards in 1965 for Best Performance in the play The Old Glory by Robert Lowell and for Distinguished Performance in John Webster's play The White Devil that same year, a Tony in 2002 for Best Supporting Actor in Ivan Turgenev's Fortune's Fool, and Tonys for Best Featured Actor in a Play in 1975 for Edward Albee's Seascape, in 2007 for Peter Morgan's Frost/Nixon, and in 2016 for his role as André in The Father. He also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance as Richard Nixon in the film Frost/Nixon (2008). Langella was nominated for two other Best Leading Actor in a Play Tonys: first in 1978 for the Edward Gorey-designed revival of Bram Stoker's Dracula and again in 2004 for Stephen Belber's Match. In 2002, Langella was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.19 Filmography Year Film Role Notes 1970 Diary of a Mad Housewife George Prager National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer - Male The Twelve Chairs Ostap Bender National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor 1971 The Deadly Trap Philippe 1972 The Wrath of God De La Plata 1973 Love Story Jimmy Lewin Episode: "When the Girls Came Out to Play" 1974 The Mark of Zorro Don Diego de la Vega / Zorro 1979 Dracula Count Dracula Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actor 1980 Those Lips, Those Eyes Harry Crystal 1981 Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes TV recording of live stage production Sphinx Akmed Khazzan 1986 The Men's Club Harold Canterbury 1987 Masters of the Universe Skeletor 1988 And God Created Woman James Tiernan 1991 True Identity Leland Carver 1992 1492: Conquest of Paradise Santangel 1993 Body of Evidence Jeffrey Roston Dave White House Chief of Staff Bob Alexander Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Jaro Essa 3 episodes (uncredited) 1994 Brainscan Detective Hayden Doomsday Gun Gerald Bull Junior Noah Banes 1995 Bad Company Vic Grimes Cutthroat Island Dawg Brown 1996 Eddie Wild Bill Burgess The Greatest Pharaohs Himself 1997 Lolita Clare Quilty 1998 Small Soldiers Archer Voice I'm Losing You Perry Needham Krohn Alegría Guilietta's father/Fleur 1999 The Ninth Gate Boris Balkan 2000 Cry Baby Lane Mr. Bennett TV movie that aired on Nickelodeon 2001 Sweet November Edgar Price The Beast Jackson Burns TV series 2004 House of D Reverend Duncan The Novice Father Tew 2005 Back in the Day Lt. Bill Hudson Now You See It... Max Disney Channel Original Movie Sweet William Professor Driskoll Good Night, and Good Luck William S. Paley Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture 2006 Superman Returns Perry White 10.5: Apocalypse Dr. Earl Hill 2007 Starting Out in the Evening Leonard Schiller Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Male Nominated—National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture 2008 The Caller Jimmy Stevens Frost/Nixon Richard Nixon African-American Film Critics Association for Best Actor Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor Sant Jordi Awards Best Foreign Actor San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actor Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama Nominated—London Film Critics' Circle Award for Actor of the Year Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture The Tale of Despereaux The Mayor Voice 2009 The Box Arlington Steward Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor 2010 Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps Louis Zabel All Good Things Sanford Marks 2011 Unknown Rodney Cole 2012 Robot & Frank Frank The Time Being Warner Dax 2013 Parts per Billion Andy Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight Warren Burger TV film 2014 Muppets Most Wanted Beefeater Vicar Draft Day Anthony Molina 5 to 7 Sam Noah Og Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet Pasha 2015 The Driftless Area Tim Geer Captain Fantastic Completed The Americans Gabriel TV series 2016 Youth in Oregon Raymond Engersol In post-production All the Way Richard Russell, Jr. TV film See also List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees References 1.Jump up ^ Rudd, Andy. "Oscar nominations: Frank Langhella – Top 10 facts you need to know about the Academy Award-nominated Frost/Nixon actor". mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-03-27. 2.Jump up ^ Mcgrath, Charles (2009-01-04). "So Nixonian That His Nose Seems to Evolve". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-03-27. 3.Jump up ^ Roberts, Sheila (2007-11-22). "Frank Langella Interview, Starting out in the Evening". MoviesOnline. Retrieved 2007-12-04. 4.Jump up ^ Peter Marks (1996-02-11). "Frank Langella Stamps The Father as His Own". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-04-10. 5.Jump up ^ "Frank Langella Biography". filmreference. 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-10. 6.Jump up ^ White, Timothy (1998). The entertainers. Billboard Books. p. 72. ISBN 0-8230-7606-7. 7.Jump up ^ Coutros, Evonne E. "Playing a Wicked Streak for All It's Worth", The Record. January 23, 1994. 8.Jump up ^ Venutolo, Anthony. "From heroes to villains, Frank Langella finds the heart in them all", The Star-Ledger, November 29, 2008. Accessed June 14, 2011. "The family moved to South Orange, where Langella graduated from Columbia High School before heading off to Syracuse to study drama." 9.Jump up ^ The Immoralist at the Internet off-Broadway Database 10.Jump up ^ Marshall, Rick. "Frank Langella calls Skeletor "one of my very favorite parts"". IFC (U.S. TV network). Retrieved 2015-06-07. 11.Jump up ^ "Frank Langella Biography (1940?–)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved 2010-03-27. 12.Jump up ^ Napoleon, Davi (1991). Chelsea on the Edge: The Adventures of an American Theater. Iowa State University Press. ISBN 0-8138-1713-7. 13.Jump up ^ Cox, Gordon. Frank Langella to be 'Man' on B'way, Variety, 21 May 2008. 14.Jump up ^ Video Interviews: The Box 15.Jump up ^ Frank Langella Scores Starring Role in 'Unknown White Male' 16.Jump up ^ "See Frank Langella in the American Premiere of The Father" by Hannah Vine, Playbill, 30 March 2016 17.Jump up ^ Langella, Frank (2012). Dropped Names. HarperCollins Publishers. 18.Jump up ^ Calhoun, Ada (April 22, 2012). "Cheerful Debauchery". New York Times Book Review. Retrieved April 27, 2012. 19.Jump up ^ Playbill.com External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Frank Langella. Frank Langella at the Internet Broadway Database Frank Langella at the Internet Movie Database Frank Langella at the Internet Off-Broadway Database Frank Langella at AllMovie Frank Langella collected news and commentary at The New York Times Radio interview on Fresh Air (40 mins; 2012) Category:1938 births Category:Male actors from New Jersey Category:American male film actors Category:American people of Italian descent Category:American male stage actors Category:American male voice actors Category:Drama Desk Award winners Category:Living people Category:People from Bayonne, New Jersey Category:People from South Orange, New Jersey Category:Syracuse University alumni Category:Tony Award winners Category:20th-century American male actors Category:21st-century American male actors Category:Male actors of Italian descent Category:American Theater Hall of Fame inductees